Episode Summary: The 5 Executive Hiring Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

Podcast: Build with Leila Hormozi
Host: Leila Hormozi
Episode: Ep 328
Date: November 18, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Leila Hormozi candidly shares the hard-won lessons she’s learned from building and hiring executive teams multiple times—most recently at acquisition.com, a business scaling toward multi-nine-figure revenues. Leila breaks down what distinguishes truly transformative executives, why so many CEOs get it wrong, and the five biggest realizations she wishes she’d known earlier in her journey. If you think your business may be ready for its first executive hires (or if you fear it might be), this is a blueprint for avoiding classic mistakes and upping your strategic leadership game.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recognizing When You Need Executives

• As businesses grow, founders hit a point where they become the bottleneck—running everything and making all important decisions.
• “It’s not because it outgrew your vision or your hard work or your ambition. It’s you.” (Leila, 04:05)
• Leila notes classic signals:
  • Strategic conversations shrink, not because of increased efficiency but lack of time.
  • Leaders stop thinking about the business and spend all their energy in the business.
• Analogy: Steering a rowboat (startup) vs. steering the Titanic (large company).
• At a certain stage, you don’t just need “more people doing things,” but “people to think about stuff” (06:45).

2. What Makes Executive Hiring Unique

• Hiring an executive is “more like choosing a partner” than hiring an employee.
• “The number one thing that I learned…is it is not like hiring employees, okay? It is more like choosing a partner.” (11:40)
• Executives must make your business better—strategically and operationally—by making you think bigger, not just work less.

3. 5 Executive Hiring Lessons

Lesson 1: Great Executives Make You Think Bigger, Not Just Work Less (13:20)

• First-time mistake: Hiring for capacity instead of capability.
• Executives should NOT leave you mentally in the weeds; they should elevate your thinking.
• Memorable quote: “Executors need direction. Executives need context. You have to give them the why, and they will figure out a better what.” (17:12)
• If internal candidates ask for promotion, do you leave meetings with them thinking bigger? If not, they’re not ready.
• Example conversation with a teammate requesting exec role:
  • “Actually, every time I talk to you, I don’t leave thinking bigger. I leave thinking about a million details that I don’t want to think about, dude.” (18:00)

Lesson 2: You’re Being Hired, Too (20:10)

• Hiring execs flips the typical interview dynamic. They have options and interview you as much as you interview them.
• “If you cannot paint the vision of the company for them, it is going to be a very tough road.” (21:16)
• Test: The right candidates ask deep questions about the company’s future, not just about the role.

Lesson 3: Executives Multiply Themselves (24:10)

• You’re hiring a ripple effect: execs impact everyone they train, hire, and influence.
• Their habits, standards, and behaviors become embedded across the company.
• Key questions Leila asks herself before hiring:
  • Will people want to emulate them?
  • Would I trust them to represent us in any situation?
  • Do I genuinely want to spend time with them?
  • And most revealing: “If I had kids, would I want them to work for this person?” (28:10)
• “Because it reveals what is more important in this role than anything, which is character. Character scales.” (28:20)

Lesson 4: The Best Execs Build Themselves Out of a Job (29:24)

• Great executives create systems and frameworks so work happens without their constant input.
• “They don’t hoard information, they don’t bottleneck decisions…They build systems, processes, frameworks that make it easier for everybody to win.” (29:30)
• Test question: “What’s a system that you built that’s still running today without you?” (32:40)

Lesson 5: Executive ‘Fit’ is Stage-Specific (34:00)

• No universally great execs: A star at Google might fail at a 20-person startup, and vice versa.
• Leila’s past mistake: Hiring an all-star CTO from Google/Apple who flopped in a small-company environment—“He hated it, I hated it” (36:01)
• “The question is not are they impressive. The question is, can they thrive in the specific business we’re in right now and help us bridge to what’s next?” (36:24)
• Filter question: “What size of team and revenue range do you work best in, and why?” – Self-aware execs answer specifically; blowhards say “I can do anything”—which is a red flag.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On strategic impact vs. tactical relief:

  • “They are not just there to take tasks off your plate. They’re here to change the questions that you are asking.” (16:16)

• On painting a vision for candidates:

  • “They’re not just picking a job, they’re picking a mission. They’re picking a future—a story that they want to be a part of and tell as a part of their career.” (22:10)

• On executive culture multiplier effect:

  • “If they’re mediocre, your standards start to drift, and they start to degrade.” (25:12)

• On personal fit:

  • “You’re going to spend so much time with your executives, and…it is talking about what you’re thinking about and strategy. And if you do not like being around them, that is just gonna be difficult.” (27:30)

• On the ultimate outcome:

  • “When you get it right…you will stop being the person with all the answers, and you will start being the person with the best questions.” (38:35)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:04: Introduction & context: Executive hiring as growth lever, personal reflections
• 04:05: Signs you’re ready for execs—bottlenecks, lack of time for strategy
• 11:40: The “partner, not employee” paradigm shift
• 13:20: Lesson 1: Think bigger, not just work less
• 17:12: Direction vs. context in leadership
• 20:10: Lesson 2: Two-way hiring process, importance of vision
• 24:10: Lesson 3: Execs as organizational multipliers
• 29:24: Lesson 4: Building systems vs. bottlenecks
• 34:00: Lesson 5: Stage and context specificity
• 38:35: Wrapping up: Upgrading thinking, asking better questions

Summary and Takeaways

Leila Hormozi distills her journey building multiple executive teams into a playbook for founders and CEOs facing messy scale. Her five lessons make it clear:

• Executives are partners, not just top employees
• Their main job is to expand your thinking, not just lighten your load
• The best ones multiply their impact, build durable systems, and fit your current business stage
• Hiring at this level is as much about your vision and character as it is theirs.

Above all, Leila emphasizes the liberating shift: “You will stop being the person with all the answers, and you will start being the person with the best questions.” (38:35)

For any founder at a scaling crossroads, this episode is required listening—and with this summary, you have the core lessons at your fingertips.